Prodigal Son ratings jumped in one very important way on Nov. 11, even with the Veterans Day holiday. See the latest Prodigal Son numbers.
Good news for Prodigal Son fans, as the FOX crime drama’s latest episode did exactly what the show needs to do in order to get itself a second season.
Monday’s episode “Family Friend” picked up almost 15 percent in adults 18-49 category over the previous week. That made the show the most improved in that demographic of all the broadcast TV shows that aired Monday.
It also pushed Prodigal Son into the Top 5 amongst the 18-49 audience (although it did tie with its direct competition, ABC‘s medical drama The Good Doctor).
This is a very encouraging sign for the FOX series. Prodigal Son ratings haven’t exactly been on fire this season; the show has been fighting to get to the 4 million live viewers mark.
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“Family Friend” was no exception to that rule; it brought in 3.39 million people who were watching live, which was up slightly from the prior 3.19 (+0.20, or 200,000).
But it was still down from where the show was a month ago (at 3.61 million) and well off the pace of what is considered a success on broadcast TV; the top-rated series usually bring in around 6-8 million people watching live each week.
As far as live viewers go, Prodigal Son is trending toward the bottom; it was ranked ninth out of 12 shows this week, which is up one spot from last week but still in the lower fourth.
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That makes it even more important that it climbed up in the key demo. The series was the only show to post double-digit gains amongst the demographic this week, and that could be a huge bargaining chip as FOX decides whether or not to renew it.
Sure, it’s not a huge winner in total audience, but it’s growing its presence amongst the age range that advertisers and networks covet the most. If it can hold that number or even continue to push it upward, there’s appeal in keeping a series that brings in that target crowd. But there’s a big “but” here too, and it’s called scheduling—because there’s about to be a bump in the road.
Prodigal Son Season 1 pauses next week, as FOX has a repeat on its schedule. Hopefully that break in momentum won’t undo the great progress the show made this week.